U With Diaeresis (ü): Copy It and Learn When Spanish Requires It
Copy ü in one click, browse the list of words with güe and güi, and find out why this mark is not an accent.
Diaeresis · U+00FC
The u with diaeresis carries two dots that say the vowel really is pronounced. In Spanish it appears only in güe and güi.
- Unicode ü
- U+00FC
- Unicode Ü
- U+00DC
- Windows
- Alt + 0252
What is the u with diaeresis?
The u with diaeresis (ü) is the u carrying two dots, placed in the syllables güe and güi to show that the vowel must be pronounced. Spanish also calls the mark crema.
The problem it solves is specific. In Spanish the u in gue and gui is silent: it exists only to keep the g hard, as in «guerra» or «guitarra». But some words need that u to be heard, and without a marker there would be no way to tell. That is what the diaeresis does: it turns «pinguino» into «pingüino».
It should not be confused with the accent. The accent (´) points to the stressed syllable; the diaeresis reports on how one specific vowel is pronounced. They are independent, and a single word can carry both — lingüística has a diaeresis on the u and an accent on the i.
How to type ü on every system
The shortcut is not the same as the accent one: here you press the diaeresis key, not the acute.
Windows
Lowercase ü. For uppercase Ü use Alt + 0220.
On a Spanish layout: Shift + ´ then u.
macOS
Option + U then u. Note it is U, not E.
For uppercase: Option + U then Shift + U.
Linux
With the Compose key, on any layout.
Or AltGr + ¨ then u on international layouts.
Android
ü appears among the u variants.
Works without switching keyboard language.
iPhone & iPad
Slide your finger onto the ü.
No need to install the Spanish keyboard.
Word & HTML
Diaeresis shortcut inside Microsoft Word.
In HTML: ü and Ü. In CSS: \00FC and \00DC.
On a Mac there is an easy slip: the accent is Option + E, but the diaeresis is Option + U. Both are dead keys, so nothing prints until the vowel arrives.
When it is required: the güe and güi rule
güe · güi
pingüino · vergüenza
The u is pronounced, so it must be marked.
gue · gui
guerra · guitarra
The u is silent: it only hardens the g.
gua · guo
agua · antiguo
The u already sounds; the mark would be redundant.
The whole rule fits in one sentence: the diaeresis only ever appears before e and i. If an a or an o follows the u, it is never written.
Pairs that trip people up
The same word family may take the mark or not depending on the following vowel. These pairs explain the rule better than any definition.
| With diaeresis | Without | Why |
|---|---|---|
| antigüedad | antiguo | antiguo has guo, where the u already sounds |
| ambigüedad | ambiguo | same thing: guo needs no mark |
| paragüero | paraguas | paraguas has gua; paragüero has güe |
| averigüé | averiguar | conjugating produces güe, which must be marked |
| agüita | agua | the diminutive turns gua into güi |
Spanish words with diaeresis
There are fewer than you might expect. Spanish has a limited set of words with ü, and these cover virtually all everyday use.
pingüino (penguin) · cigüeña (stork) · yegüita (little mare)
lingüística · lingüista · bilingüe · trilingüe · plurilingüe
desagüe (drain) · paragüero (umbrella stand) · agüita · piragüismo
vergüenza (shame) · ambigüedad · antigüedad · contigüidad
ungüento (ointment) · halagüeño · pedigüeño · argüir · nicaragüense
To that list add the conjugated forms of verbs ending in -guar, which is where most errors happen: averigüé, apacigües, atestigüemos, amortigüe. If you are unsure how many syllables one of these has, our syllable counter splits them correctly.
Spanish ü is not German ü
This is the point English speakers get wrong most often, because German is the ü they met first. The two are written identically and share the Unicode code point U+00FC, but they do entirely different things.
In German the two dots are an umlaut: they change the vowel sound itself, so «u» and «ü» are pronounced differently and distinguish words like Mutter and Mütter. In Spanish the diaeresis changes nothing about how the u sounds — it simply signals that this u, which would otherwise be silent, is pronounced.
The distinction has practical consequences. German gives ü special treatment in alphabetical sorting; Spanish treats it as a plain u. That is why «pingüino» sits between «pingo» and «pinta» with no special handling at all.
The poetic diaeresis
rü-i-do
three syllables instead of two
There is a second use of the mark that has nothing to do with the u, and it appears only in poetry. Poets place it on a closed vowel to break a diphthong and gain one extra syllable, fitting the line to the metre they need.
It is a recognised metrical licence, not an error. «Ruido» normally has two syllables (rui-do), but written rüido it reads as three. The same goes for süave or glorïosa, a device Góngora used to stretch a hendecasyllable.
It works as the mirror of synaeresis, which merges two vowels that should stay apart. Both exist to make the syllable count come out right. Our syllable and metre counter analyses those cases and detects the synalephas in a line.
Common mistakes with the diaeresis
Without the diaeresis the u falls silent: «pinguino» would be read with a mute u, just like «guitarra».
In gua and guo the u already sounds on its own, so the mark is redundant. It only belongs in güe and güi.
The single most common slip: conjugating -guar verbs produces güe and the mark is often forgotten.
For the rest of the characters unique to Spanish, see Spanish accents and the letter ñ on their own pages.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type ü on an English keyboard?
When does the u take a diaeresis in Spanish?
Is the diaeresis an accent?
Why does «agua» take no mark but «agüita» does?
What happens with verbs ending in -guar?
Is the Spanish ü the same as the German ü?
What is the poetic diaeresis?
What is the Unicode code point for ü?
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